President and CEO's Report for August 2011

As I mentioned in last month’s report, in June we co-hosted an event called, “Managing to Outcomes.” There have been quite a few positive follow-ups. We have been informed by a number of foundations of their interest in our effort and a willingness to entertain proposals from us to help us achieve our plans to get to CN 3.0. We have also begun conversations with a number of Donor Advised Funds and financial advisors who want to explore working with us. Furthermore, a number of philanthropic organizations have indicated an interest in having us present at their upcoming events. All of this gives us a good indication that our current efforts and future plans are resonating powerfully with these different groups. In addition, for your viewing pleasure, we will be posting videos of the various presentations that were given at the forum over the next few months. You can find the first of these videos here (the CN 2.0 Case Study presentation).

Also indicative of the growing interest in our work is a first time ever request from a country to learn more about our work. We have gotten many requests over the years from nonprofit and for-profit groups around the world that would like to work with us. However, never before has the leadership (Prime Minister) of a government approached us to help them! At the request of the country’s leadership, we are keeping their identity in confidence at this time. Who knows where this will lead? Nonetheless, it certainly is an indication of the growing interest around the world in our work.

The other major news at the moment is that we are closing in on our goal to officially “flip the switch” and have our Accountability and Transparency data impact every charity’s rating in our database. As of July 1st, the data tab (an example can be found here) on Accountability and Transparency is now up for practically every charity we rate! We have also developed a proposed weighting of this information to be integrated into the overall star rating system and are reviewing the design with our Advisory Panel. Once this review is completed and our Board has a last look, the change will happen!